volunteer experience. How important?
Started by surfingD.O.
I don't know. I think adcoms are looking for clinical exposure. If you have a job in healthcare and have patient contact, that should do the trick for clinical experience. But any volunteer experience will show you are looking outside of yourself to help others, a good thing to show adcoms.
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Thanks for your advice. Any reccomendations on the types of volunteer opportunities. i started volunteering at the local hospital in the acute care unit but I felt like I wasn't really needed. Once in a while someone wanted water or needed a bed changed but most of the time I felt useless. What are the best areas to volunteer that have the most patient and/or physician contact?
Amy B
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Your volunteer clinical experiance can make the difference from being accpetd to being rejected. I don't know anyone who got accepted that didn't have clinical experiences.
Check out your city and see if there are any free health clinics that are dependent on volunteers. That is where I volunteered for years and loved every minute of it. By the time I was done I could check patients in, take vitals, do lab tests, give immunizations, draw blood, draw blood for HIV testing, pregnancy counsler, etc....
Do you live in a city where there is a medical school? If you do, you could ask to meet with the dean of admissions and ask them where they would recommend you could get a great amount of clinical volunteer time.
Start shadowing a doctor and ask if you could be trained to take blood pressures, or do simple lab tests.
Stay at the hospital where you are and talk with the volunteer director and explain how very important it is you have clinical volunteer time and ask them if there is another place in the hospital where you could be more involved.
Good luck. I know it can be rough at times to get this experiance, but it is very very important to your overall application.
Check out your city and see if there are any free health clinics that are dependent on volunteers. That is where I volunteered for years and loved every minute of it. By the time I was done I could check patients in, take vitals, do lab tests, give immunizations, draw blood, draw blood for HIV testing, pregnancy counsler, etc....
Do you live in a city where there is a medical school? If you do, you could ask to meet with the dean of admissions and ask them where they would recommend you could get a great amount of clinical volunteer time.
Start shadowing a doctor and ask if you could be trained to take blood pressures, or do simple lab tests.
Stay at the hospital where you are and talk with the volunteer director and explain how very important it is you have clinical volunteer time and ask them if there is another place in the hospital where you could be more involved.
Good luck. I know it can be rough at times to get this experiance, but it is very very important to your overall application.
Most hospitals won't let you have much, if any, real patient contact. I never volunteered at a hospital, because all you end up doing is running errands for the nurses. I suggest you seek out some community clinics, ones that provide care to low income/homeless/uninsured etc. They can really use your help, and you'll be able to do more with them.
Remember, your experience doesn't have to be medical, although it does help to get some exposure to medicine. There are other places you might volunteer, such as local schools (tutoring), homeless shelters, social services etc.
What do they want when they ask, "leadership positions"? Like club presidents or some ****? I don't have any "leadership" positions. I'm 21.
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Some advice from a 21 yr old senior.... you need those leadership experiences to round out your application I think. I've been asked about many of them and it's nice to be able to say I currently serve on 6 board of directors, a presidnet of an honor society, and secretary for another. Shows you have a take-charge attitude.
there are plenty of other ways to get these leadership experiences, though. Try organizing a philanthropy event or running for your school's homecoming court. Be creative but take charge!
To the OP....
My advice on volunteering is also to stay away from hospitals. It's true that you just run a lot of errands or have little contact with patients (unless you put in LOTS and LOTS of time there).
why not try working with hospice? Or your local AIDS clinic? Other interesting ideas that get you some health-care experience are foster shelters, helping first aiders/nurses at a summer camp (I did this one), working at a blood bank (very fun), etc.
My advice on volunteering is also to stay away from hospitals. It's true that you just run a lot of errands or have little contact with patients (unless you put in LOTS and LOTS of time there).
why not try working with hospice? Or your local AIDS clinic? Other interesting ideas that get you some health-care experience are foster shelters, helping first aiders/nurses at a summer camp (I did this one), working at a blood bank (very fun), etc.
I'm a senior too, but there's just no leadership opportunities. How many people get in without being President of Pointless Random Organization?
so what did you fill in your AMCAS extracurriculars then? I wanted to market myself as a well-rounded individual. I've never had an adcom or professor tell me that serving on a Board was pointless. They can ONLY help. I'm sure people get in without these experiences but it allows me another marketing tool that I would have otherwise been without.
I'm sure your university has plenty of ways to get involved on campus, from SCUBA clubs to Bio societies, there's a chance to make your mark as a decision maker.
At 21 I was finishing paramedic school, was a leutienant and training officer of a rescue squad, and had an instructor/leadership role for the red cross. There are plenty of oppurtunities out there. I think they just want to see ANY leadership or take charge examples.
Y'all have some pretty impressive leadership, but leadership comes in many forms. I gave examples from my work experience - I'd had a job working with handicapped people in which I acted as a leader for my co-workers during my second summer there. (Normally they hire fresh staff every summer.)
Also, when I worked at a lab doing research I helped to train newer students who needed to learn how to do the stuff I was doing. That's leadership too...
C'mon, be creative... you've done leadership, you just don't know it! 😉
Also, when I worked at a lab doing research I helped to train newer students who needed to learn how to do the stuff I was doing. That's leadership too...
C'mon, be creative... you've done leadership, you just don't know it! 😉
the only "leadership" i had was partial supervisory power in my current job, which is in healthcare. that means i can direct the administrative staff on ordering supplies, hiring people and giving scheduling advice. other than that, i got nothin'.
you all sound impressive as h*ll.
you all sound impressive as h*ll.
Hi JKDMEd,
I have been accepted without being " President of Pointless Random Organization"
I wouldn't stress yourself out about this. Make sure you have some good clinical experiences and if you are asked about leadership roles (which I haven't been asked yet) find somewhere in your life where you acted as one. The other posters had some good examples. I was a part of a few clubs but my interest in them was not enough for me to want to lead them in any way.Good luck 😉
By the way, I like your quote. Its from futurama right?
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JKDMed - I think that leadership experience doesn't neccessarily have to come from specifically being the president of a student organization on campus. See, there's a post-bacc I know of who was afraid because she didn't have any leadership experience on campus. After some conversing I found out that she used to teach English to children in a Third-World country. That's leadership, isn't it? I mean being a teacher and having to teach English to those kids in those conditions should certainly qualify as leadership.
You don't really have to do that, but I just wanted to offer an example of the fact that you don't have to get elected to a position in a school club, dude. In fact, that lady's experience was much more impressive than being a student club secretary/treasurer/president/etc. I'm not trying to take away from those, but she's impressed me personally more.
You don't really have to do that, but I just wanted to offer an example of the fact that you don't have to get elected to a position in a school club, dude. In fact, that lady's experience was much more impressive than being a student club secretary/treasurer/president/etc. I'm not trying to take away from those, but she's impressed me personally more.
Well, if by leadership they mean, "positions of authority", then I have a few of those. I tutor high school kids on Wednesday, and although I'm not official/certified, I still help out the lower belts and newer students in martial arts.
